Good evening Hawks and Families,

As we close out the school year, we want to share a few reminders:

• The HDS Office is open Monday-Friday next week from 8am to 12pm for drop off of textbooks and Chromebooks and pick up of awards, PE clothes, and classroom items. Please stop by with items to return to help us close out the school year.
• HDS 2020 T-shirts and 8th Grade Promotion Shirts are available for purchase on a first-come, first-serve basis. Cost is $20. Please inquire in the office to purchase a shirt.
• HDS Yearbooks are coming soon. We will send out an e-mail with a pick-up schedule as soon as they arrive. 

Virtual Events:

We are super excited to share with you our Virtual 8th Grade Promotion! We are so proud of all of the 8th graders for their character and dedication as they closed out their time here at High Desert. Best of luck to all of the 8th graders as they move on to VHS as Mustangs!

HDS Class of 2020 Virtual 8th Grade Promotion

And, what would the end of the year be without the thrill and screams of a trip to Magic Mountain. Although it is closed, we have put together a virtual experience for our students. Take a virtual ride on some of the best coasters out there from the comfort of your home, without the heat or need for sunscreen!

Virtual Magic Mountain

Thanks for a great year! Hawks SOAR with 2020 Vision!

Hello High Desert School Community,

This is principal Dave Kubela with High Deserts last Monday message of the year. It has been an unusual year to say the least, but I want to thank students, parents, teachers and staff for working together to make the best of a difficult situation. As society is slowly opening up, planning for next year remains fluid. We will keep you informed as the plans for the new school take shape.

A reminder that Student Textbook/Chromebook Drop-off continues this week. Students will also receive any items from the classroom or Gym locker. If your student used a key or did not provide a combo, they will need to visit the locker room to retrieve items on their assigned day and time. Otherwise, all items will be returned in the drop off area. Here are the remaining days and times: 

• 6th Grade - Tuesday June 2nd
• 7th Grade - Wednesday June 3rd
• 8th Grade - Thursday June 4th 

• Times for all three grades:
• A through F: 8 am - 9 am
• G through L: 9 am - 10 am
• M through R: 10 am - 11 am
• S through Z: 11 am - 12 pm
• Make-up day  - Friday June 5th 
• A through Z: 8 am - 12 pm

There will be a parent zoom meeting for the 2021 Florida trip tomorrow, June 2nd at 2 pm. The trip is available  for all incoming 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. The meeting will be on Zoom and should last about 30 minutes. The zoom link is below for those interested.

• Topic: Florida Trip 2021 Parent Meeting!!
• Time: Jun 2, 2020 02:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
• Join Zoom Meeting
• https://zoom.us/j/97186439591?pwd=WnBueHJZc012V3BZTzFPelIvZ0pxdz09
• Meeting ID: 971 8643 9591
• Password: 7y6p7T

Attention all incoming Vasquez H.S. 9th graders interested in participating in fall athletics.  The Vasquez High School coaches for Cross Country, Football and Girls Volleyball have included information letters.  Please see the attachments and reach out to the coaches. If you are a High Desert student interested in trying out for Volleyball in the fall, please reach out to Coach Herman. See attached flyer.     

Information on Academic Eligibility for Vasquez and High Desert Athletics: 

• Academic Eligibility for 8th grade students interested in participating in a fall sport at Vasquez, which includes Football, Girls Volleyball, and Cross Country, will be based on 2nd Semester Spring 2020 Grades.  Students are required to have a minimum of a 2.0 GPA to be eligible. 
•  Academic Eligibility for students entering 6th, 7th  or 8th grade  who are interested in participating in a fall sport at High Desert, which includes Boys and Girls Volleyball and Cross Country will be based on 2nd Semester Spring 2020 Grades.   Students are required to have a minimum of a 2.0 GPA to be eligible. 
• Academic Eligibility for incoming 5th grade students interested in participating in a fall sport at High Desert, which includes Boys and Girls Volleyball and Cross Country (limited races) will be waived until 1st quarter grades.

If you played soccer for High Desert this past winter and still have a uniform, please return it in a sealed Ziplock with your child’s name on it when you drop their books off at High Desert.

Please see the attached Summer Gateway Flyer for information on the Gateway Academy Summer Day Camp

Please see the attached Cheer Flyer for information on Vasquez Mustang Cheer for the 2020-2021 school year.

Have a great last week of school and a fun, restful summer!

Attachments:
 Vasquez_Football_incoming_freshmen_flyer_2020_(1).pdf (80.0 KB)
 VHS_Volleyball_flyer_2020.pdf (596.9 KB)
 VHS_XC_Parent_Interest_Ltr_MAY2020.pdf (124.0 KB)
 SummerGatewayAVHS(Online)-3.pdf (338.6 KB)
 High_Desert_Volleyball_2020.pdf (111.8 KB)
 Cheer_Flier_20-21.pdf (85.8 KB)

Good evening parents and students.  This is Mr. King, superintendent of the AADUSD.  The message from Governor Gavin Newsom, State Superintendent of Instruction, Tony Thurmond, and LACOE Superintendent, Dr. Debra Duardo, has been consistent over the past 48 hours.  They have all recommended that schools across the state remain closed through the remainder of the school year. 

The decision to close a school rests within the scope of the local school board and superintendent, at least at this point in time.  I am in agreement that keeping our schools closed to the public for the remainder of the school year is the most prudent thing to do for the protection of our students, staff, families, and community members. 

This is an extremely difficult recommendation I will be making to the Board of Education next Thursday evening.  Pending Board approval of my recommendation we will continue to provide instruction for the remainder of the school year through distance learning.  This is not an early start to a summer break.  Our teachers, administrators, and support staff have worked extremely hard to ensure your student’s education continues. 

In Los Angeles County the number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus continues to rise each day.  It is my opinion that we must continue to do our part by practicing social distancing whenever and wherever possible. 

Students, our teachers are here for you.  Please know you can request to speak to your teacher anytime.  They will make time for you as they always have.  Parents, the same applies to you.  We know how difficult this is.  Many of our teachers have their own children at home and understand firsthand the challenges you are facing. 

While I know many of us are angry, hurt, sad, or frustrated that all the amazing activities that normally take place at the end of the school year are now cancelled, at least any live version of those activities.  We have to find new and innovative ways to celebrate student successes through the use of technology such as live video streaming.  We owe that to our students. 

Thank you, be safe, be healthy, and have a good evening.

Good evening High Desert Families, this is your Monday Message for the week of March 30th.

All students should have received communication from their teacher regarding the next phase of Distance Learning. If you have not, please email me so that we can ensure you receive all communication. Remember that this new instruction is not meant to fill the entire day. Please use your teacher’s recommended pacing guide to help with when and how long assignments should take.

If you are hearing this message, and not receiving it by email, please let us know. There may be links in this message that you will need to access. I am also posting messages on our school website and our High Desert Parents page. Please be sure to check your SPAM box also, as sometimes good mail gets sent there.

If you are still in need of a device to access instruction and did not request one through the survey, please email me as soon as possible. The final day to pick up a Chromebook will be tomorrow, Tuesday, March 31st  between 9:00-11:00 am at the district office bus loop. Chromebooks will only be issued to students that are on the list. There are no walk-up requests. Just a reminder that you can access all materials on any device, such as a laptop or tablet. Your device does not need to be a Chromebook. Thank you so much for all of your cooperation in making the Chromebook pick-up process go so smoothly today.

This Friday, High Desert ASB would like to have a Spirit Day. How will we do this, you ask? Well, wear your High Desert spirit wear or wear anything green, black or white and take a picture. Click on the link to upload your picture or video to our grid. Let's show our school spirit and pride and support each other. Remember, High Desert students rock! 

Here is the link to upload your picture:

https://flipgrid.com/c66df138

I hope you are all continuing to stay safe and enjoying this extended time with your families. Have a good evening and thank you for listening

Tomorrow we are excited to kick off our first day of distance learning.
I am very proud of our students and parents. I appreciate everyone's patience and flexibility. Our teachers have worked very hard this past week to prepare distance learning lessons. We are here to support you through this challenging time and ensure your child's education continues.
#aadusdstaygold #actonschooldistrict #aadusd #firesidechat

Mr. Larry King

AADUSD Superintendent

Please click the link below to see the video.

https://youtu.be/S28sFaVZPMA

Good evening High Desert Families. This is a special message about Distance Learning.

Our teachers have been working hard preparing lessons and activities for their students to begin Distance Learning. Please watch for communication via e-mail or Google Classroom from your child’s teacher for directions and information on what this looks like. Again, we completely understand that this is a new educational format for many families. Please reach out to your teacher if you need any clarification or further directions. All of our teachers have office hours where they can be contacted and parents and students can speak directly with their teacher. These hours and days vary by teacher so please read the communication from your child’s teacher. 

Students now have the ability to take AR tests at home. Students should already have their login information and should know how to access this website. 

If you requested a Chromebook for your child, they will be available for pick at the district office in the bus lane, on Monday at 8:30 am to 12:00 pm. Only families who requested Chromebooks through the survey will be assigned a Chromebook. Please follow these directions for pickup:

Do not come if you are sick or are feeling sick

Remain in your car and form a line in the bus lane

Do not get out of your car, this is a drive-through pick up

Please bring your own pen to sign the Acceptable Use Agreement form 

If you have difficulty accessing WiFi around your home and you have checked out a district Chromebook, WiFi is available at Meadowlark, High Desert, and Vasquez High School. The gates will be open on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 8:00 am until 2:30 pm for wifi access. For High Desert, please park in the bus loop or in the parking lot on the side closest to the office for the strongest signal. 

Again, we thank you very much for your patience and understanding as we begin this new process. We are all working hard to do our best to ensure our students continue learning. Please encourage your child to work on their assignments, but also take time to enjoy the extended family time. We wish you all well and will continue to update you as we receive information. 

Together with your child, please enjoy this fun video created by HDS Teachers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuFxkWeni1I&t=63s

Have a good evening and thank you for listening.

Good evening High Desert Families. This is a special message about Distance Learning.

Your teachers have been working hard on planning and creating lessons for our kids. I understand the concern that some of you may feel because your child is not learning in a traditional format. Under the circumstances, it is not possible to create an educational format that resembles what we used to have. All of you, as parents, might be working from home for your regular job, cooking meals, cleaning and caring for one or more children. These are all facets of life that our teachers are taking into consideration when developing instructional lessons for our students. Please know that there will not be an expectation for our parents to do step-by-step lessons that fill every minute of the school day. There will be a lot of thought and consideration during the creation of our Distance Learning and the reality of what our parents and students can access and complete. This is an unprecedented time, where we can also take advantage of “natural” learning experiences. Experiences such as playing games. All kinds of games such as board games, outdoor games, indoor games, even pretend games! Cooking and baking with your kids is not only fun, but exposes them to a lot of math and language skills. Arts and crafts develop a different side of your brain and boosts creativity in kids. Dancing and singing are also fun outlets for releasing energy, teaching rhythm and coordination and are just fun to do! Teachers are excited to include these experiences in their Distance Learning schedules because these are activities that teachers don’t always have time for during the traditional school day. 

In order to provide equal access, the district will be sending out a survey asking parents about the technology that is available in your homes. Please complete the survey as soon as possible and no later than Friday, March 27th at 4:00pm. The survey can also be found in the following link:

https://forms.gle/AkEeU4Tki2cWxyFe9

Again, we thank you for your patience and understanding as we move towards ensuring our students continue to learn. Further details will be available from each grade level and/or teacher when Distance Learning is pushed out to all of our students. Please make sure the school has your most updated email address and contact information.

Thank you for listening and have a good evening. 

Pandemic Independent Study Materials for Students by Grade Level

Good evening. This is Mr. King, superintendent of the AADUSD.  I want you to know that my heart goes out to each and every one of you.  Some of you are being affected financially because of layoffs or not being compensated while your place of work or business is non-operational.  Some of you are having daycare issues, which I will speak about shortly. I walk through empty classrooms and schools and I miss our students tremendously.  I know many of our students miss seeing their friends and teachers. We will get through this. I promise. We are here for all of you. My heart goes out to the friends and families of those who have been affected by the coronavirus.

At this time I would like to inform you that we are in alignment and in agreement with the recommendation of our County Superintendent, Dr. Debra Duardo.  Dr. Duardo has recommended that LA County schools remain closed through Tuesday, May 5, 2020. We have composed a team made up of representatives from our teacher association, classified school employee association, and administrators.  I will be updating this group each week as many times as needed to ensure we have solid plans in place as we have done this past week and a half.

Sunny Days childcare will be in operation beginning Monday, March 23, 2020.  There are specific guidelines that childcare facilities must adhere to during this time.  Please refer to our website for further information. Additionally, we have provided meals to anyone who is under 18 years of age.  This information can be found on our website as well.  

I would like to give a very special thank you to our Distance Learning Instructional Team.  This team is composed of administrators and teachers. They have done an absolutely amazing job of evaluating, recommending, and providing online resources for learning as well as packets that were available for pick up this week.  I will be taking recommendations from this team to ensure our students have every opportunity to learn at home. We are having discussions about video conferencing, “office hours” for teachers, and virtual staff meetings, for example.  

I will be preparing further communication this weekend with the use of video technology.  As soon as that is available the links will be posted on our website and social media accounts.  We will continue to conduct business such as board meetings, payroll, food services, and instruction so students may continue to learn and grow.  Please know that on behalf of Board President Mr. Ken Pfalzgraf and all of our Board Trustees care deeply about our students and their families. We will continue to do everything possible to put their health and safety first.  I will continue to provide community updates each week. Please be safe and have a good evening.